


Coca-Cola, Candy, & Cough Syrup

by thisisfaycountri



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angry Harry, Character Death, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, M/M, Non-Canonical Character Death, Underage Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 04:09:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisfaycountri/pseuds/thisisfaycountri
Summary: After the battle at the Ministry of Magic, Harry's life spirals out of control. Blaming himself for everything that's happened since he entered Hogwarts he runs to Muggle London and there, finds a way to cope- the new American craze, Sizzurp. Armed with a constant- but very dangerous- way of coping with his new found grief, He sets off to his Sixth year of school with his anger in one hand, and his flask in the other- filled with Coke, Candy, and Cough Syrup. (WARNING: THE PLOT RELIES HEAVILY ON DRUG USE, DRUG PROBLEMS, ADDICTION, THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE, AND FOR THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS, EXPLANATION OF MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH THAT IS NONCANNON.)





	Coca-Cola, Candy, & Cough Syrup

The first time I tried it it was with all muggle ingredients, and it was a low buzz at best.

  
I had snuck out of my aunt and uncles with the full intention of never seeing them again, and my first night on the streets I had gone to a party and was introduced to the 'craze' of America at the moment- Sizzurp. Lean.

Coke, Candy, and Cough Syrup.

  
It was an odd mixture, and while I expected it to taste much like a potion would, it was actually overly sweet. The muggles swore it worked, but it was barely a tingling under my skin compared to their blissed-out, vacant look. I figured that it was my magic stopping me from really feeling it, and I had something else to blame on it. I went back to the alcohol they were offering and thought nothing of it.

  
But when I found an apartment to rent and settled in, I was curious. I brewed a coughing solution, which had much the same 'medicines' in it as the syrup muggles use though they are extracted from different plants and mixed in a different way. I popped a cinnamon hard candy in the bottom, poured a can of coke in and threw it back. I was a bit disappointed at first, feeling even less than before. I ended up throwing the large cup away and settling on the couch before it really hit me.

  
I didn't come down for what felt like days. when I finally got around to looking it had been only hours, but while it was coursing through me I was so at peace- my mind wasn't running at the speed of light, I wasn't depressed or thinking of the people who had died earlier in the year or my aunt and uncle or hell, even my name. I could barely string a coherent thought together, let alone analyze every little thing.

  
I quickly got to the point where I could function through the euphoric haze without it seeming like I was as high as I felt. the phrase 'fake it til you make it' had a whole new meaning when I got a job at a local grocery store for the rest of the summer. I knew I wasn't going to be picked up earlier than necessary this time, and why would I be? I caused all their problems, who would want me around?

  
I got my supplies in Diagon, by myself. I took a cab one day on a whim and went through. I got all of my things and the few things that caught my eye. It was strange to see the streets, flocked with people when I was in the state I kept myself in. I wasn't scared of them anymore. If anything, they seemed to be scared of me if the looks I was getting was any indication. that, of course, should have been my first warning, but I didn't notice. I got everything, went back to muggle London and when it was time to board the train, I was early enough to get my own compartment away from others, armed with my anger at being forced back here and my thermos of my own version of liquid courage.

**Author's Note:**

> PSA:  
The drug mentioned in this story is a real thing. If you want to read about it, I've written a quick blurb about it here. otherwise, this note has nothing to do with the story!  
Purple drank, Sizzurp, or lean, was popularized in Texas, according to what research I've done on it. Teens use the mix to get a euphoric feeling of the ingredients in the syrup, with a white soda that is fizzy enough to react with it and a candy to add flavor. People often use it with alcohol as well, increasing the feeling. One news article I read quoted 1 in 10 teens are at least trying this 'safe high'. However, too much codeine, an opiate, and promethazine, a sedative (Both found in prescription level cough syrups), can depress the central nervous and respiratory systems, stopping the heart and lungs and causing death. It can also cause nausea, dizziness, impaired vision, memory loss, and hallucinations, and seizures if taken with alcohol. the Promethazine also enhances the Codeine effect, making the 'high' feeling more effective than just taking the codeine itself.   
The medicine is often taken in large doses, usually around 25 times more than the recommended dose for a single mix of the concoction. The codeine at this level is also HIGHLY addictive and can take as little as two or three doses to create an addiction, in which case signs of withdrawal will occur. It's sometimes called 'purple drank' due to the purple dyes often found in the prescription level medication, though other colors can be found.
> 
> I was actually going to make this story more about someone with an eating disorder at first, and I googled Coke and Cough syrup to see if it was a combination used to induce vomiting, and found out all of this information. I kind of fell into a rabbit hole and now you guys get to come with me!


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